RIVER RAN RED

Waikato Times, Volume 132, Issue 22154, 28 September 1943, Page 3

RIVER RAN RED

GERMANS MOWN DOWN LONDON, Sept. 27 The Dnieper ran red at Smolensk in the final battle for the city when the sudden advance of the Russians in the Slovievsyk Bridge area trapped thousands of German troops, says the British United Press correspondent in Moscow. The Germans, in their retreat from the city, failed to note the sudden Russian pincers movement toward the bridge and before the enemy could reach safety the Russians swept down between the Germans and the river and cut off their escape. The Germans tried to fight their way out but were mown down in thousands along the river bank. The night before the final assault against Smolensk a great gale swept the countryside, rooting up trees and flooding roads. The Red Army had to press on ankle deep in mud across swollen streams and flooded fields. It was guided by the column of smoke over Smolensk, which was flaming like a torch for four days. Resistance Stiffening G,erman resistance is stiffening west of Gomel, where the enemy is employing considerable tank and infantry reinforcements. The Russians are striving for the maximum progress while the good weather lasts and before the rains convert the marshes east of Chernigov into impassable bogs. The German propaganda machine has switched to the line that the \ great Russian advance has ended except at a few points. It claims that the German withdrawals were timed to reach defensive points on the Dnieper before the rain and mud bogs down heavy transport. The Germans admit that the Russians crossed the Dnieper at a few points, but claim that the Soviet troops have been liquidated, while the Germans are still holding to their £>rdigehead east of the river. The Oslo radio states that Berlin newspapers say: “The present disen- ! gaging movement is only of a temporary nature. At the right time defensive tactics will be succeeded by a strong offensive, in which German tanks and infantry will again storm forward on a wide front.” Crucial Battle for Dnieper The crucial battle for the Dnieper crossing is in full swing, states Reuter’s Moscow correspondent. The Russians are making many simultaneous thrusts, some of which updoubtedly are feints designed to divide the Germans and diffuse their fire. Russian and German artillery are engaged in heavy duels across the river and the Red Air Force is hammering the German defences. There are five bridges between

Kiev and Zaporozhe which carry railways and main roads. It is not yet known whether the Germans have blown them up or whether they nope to retain protective bridgeheads on the east bank.